ok, this just in from iWindsurf about the Crissy Field sensor. can someone with a proper camera/lens help them out documenting the damage?

Hi Gang,

Getting this sensor fixed will take time. It is a Schedule 40 1.5 " stainless steel mast so it will take time to buy and ship a new mast and cellular electronics, solar panel etc. We also need CG permission to board the Nav. Aid. Then to fly a repair crew in, rent a truck, charter a boat and then hope for a calm day.

The very first step is to assess how extensive the damage is to the unit.

So we could save some time is one of you could use a telephoto lens and photo the entire sensor so we can see what is missing/damaged.

le noun wrote:Tgautier: there is already a sign right next to the showers at Crissy explaining EVERYTHING. Sadly, nobody takes the time to read it.

Much as I appreciate the sign at Crissy Field, and have reviewed it many times, it is over by the bathroom and easy to miss. I must have kited at Crissy 5 or 6 times before Jeff told me where the sign was.

Maybe there should be a sign with big lettering near the grass, where everyone sets up.

Hey guys It is upsetting that this event happened but,In a way I m glad that it was the sensor not the guy himself. as this was happening I was coming back in from a 2 hour session the wind was gusty but bearable. He was just leaving the beach with the red and yellow fuel and a twin tip. i watched him as I was coming in. In his defense He was far away from where people are while launching He struggled a bit but the kite ended up flying ok. It was a like 50 yards before I came in so he actually started a bit downwind and gave me the way to come in. As we crossed paths from a safe distance. The only thing that I thought was unusual was the size of the kite it was a bit on the big side. Since it was a fuel I though he must be a freestyle guy. So it wasnt out of the ordinary. from what I understand everything must have happened right after than. remind you by the beach it was so weak and gusty all the way to AR. Being on a twin-tip where he does not have much choice of the pull and float,he probably tried hard. And quite possibly missed the only solid object and his kite ended up hitting the sensor.He kept floating towards Alcatraz for a while. Thanks to Jeff and coastguard he was ok from what I understand. I couldn't believe that the sensor was broken but Jeff was saying yes the whole time, well go figure it was. I was occupied by being annoyed by an idiot with a Santa Cruz sweatshirt flying a blue china trainer kite and hitting kids dogs and his wive or gf on the beach a million times in a row and having that redneck laugh as he was doing it. There were a few kite related silliness going on at the same time but ,I m glad no one got hurt.

But coast guard did what they have to do, And I m sure that guy had no intention to break the sensor that day, he must be be sad. i hope we can educate people and renew the sensor, which we all are very thankful for those guys giving us these amazing accurate reports. it happened in my humble opinion we move on and try to prevent it . Maybe to make sure we keep the sensor side away from kiting a upwind rule or a downwind rule that keeps a safe distance . My 1 cent.

Look this only the latest in a string of incidents at Crissy that are really starting to wear thin. Whether it is beginner kiters getting rescued or launching their kites in the middle of a crowded beach; or more experienced kiters boosting big air 5ft off the beach where everyone is launching so their girlfriends can take their pictures; this selfish behavior has got to stop.

Kudos to Jeff for trying to police the beach for bad behavior but he gets almost no help from the other local kiters. I have tried to help in the past and have just gotten nothing but piss and vinegar from people who don't like a windsurfer telling them what to do. Fine. I guess it is your community's problem and not mine, right?

Everyone knows that it will take one serious injury to a bystander on that beach to put a serious damper on kite access there. Step up to the plate guys and nip this in the butt. I genuinely enjoy your comraderie on the water and drinking beers afterwards in the parking lot.

I don't kite at Chrissy but the problem is basically the same at all the kite spots:

"You can't tell me what to do". And it's true. I can tell someone their kite is too big, or refuse to launch them, or tell them not to jump inside the buoys, or explain the right of wave rules in the waves. But that doesn't mean they are going to do what I or anyone else tells them. At most of our beaches there is no one with the authority to make anyone do anything. And based on reading about kiting in SoCal, we don't really want that anyway (lifeguards).

Just because a kite took out the wind sensor does not mean the kiter did anything wrong, or was a rookie (even if in this case, he was). And really, is a kite hitting the sensor really worse than some of the examples the windsurfer mentions?

How was anyone supposed to know that he shouldn't be kiting there? He could be a fully skilled kiter but simply never have kited at Chrissy. Are we supposed to have a gang of volunteer kite-kops who grill anyone they see who isn't a local and forcibly take away their gear? Gimme a break.

Why don't Chrissy kiters get together with CG or another agency and come up with a 1 hour training program for kiters? If you get rescued and you have the certification, you are good. If you don't, you get fined. Unless you get a government agency involved in this some way, you don't have the authority to do anything. And if you don't get involved in the process of regulation, well, don't expect to be happy about what they come up with. Especially since other groups will most likely recognize an opportunity to carve out more space for themselves.

I've refused to launch more than a few kites in my years kiting. I've also talked to quite a few folks on the beach. I gave one guy at Crissy an earful last year for going out with a go-joe.

Read posts about Alameda. The guys who kite there regularly sound pretty aggressive to me - at least on the forums they don't seem to see it as a burden or something that needs a government solution but rather just a part of being a kiter.

All I'm saying is - a sign in the bathrooms is not sufficient. Post one that's visible. And keep on the alert. If a guy asks you to launch and he (or she) is on a twin tip - ask them what the tide is doing. If they can't answer ebbing or flooding (hopefully with a time when it will switch) don't launch their kite and politely explain to them that it takes more than just knowing how to get on the board to kite Crissy.

Same goes for anyone really I just mean that probably TTer's are the most likely abusers but anyone is a possible suspect.

Being primarily a TT rider myself I wouldn't mind if a Crissy regular asked me a question or two. It shows they care. And I know I have the skills to be there. I'd rather take that exceedingly minor inconvenience every once in a while over losing the privilege to kite such an amazing spot.

This doesn't require being a kite kop, or being aggressive, just simple steps to preserve a resource I think we'd all hate to lose.

le noun wrote:Tgautier: there is already a sign right next to the showers at Crissy explaining EVERYTHING. Sadly, nobody takes the time to read it.

Much as I appreciate the sign at Crissy Field, and have reviewed it many times, it is over by the bathroom and easy to miss. I must have kited at Crissy 5 or 6 times before Jeff told me where the sign was.

Maybe there should be a sign with big lettering near the grass, where everyone sets up.

Probably the same sign from the shower should be posted where you say with a BIG SIGN IN RED LETTERS above it saying:" first time here? read this:"

I ride both a TT and a surfboard and I wouldn't mind if people were asking me if I know what I'm doing before I get in the water at crissy. I think the idea of asking for tides is a good indicator indeed. I always ask jeff what's up anyway before I get in the water: he's always there.

Now, something I didn't quite understand: the guy knocked out the pole and then went riding and got picked up at alcatraz later? OR did he knocked out the pole, then start a self-rescue, and by the time he got picked up the 3kts flood took him to alcatraz?Because if he kept riding after knocking the pole, I think that's pretty ballsy.

Anybody gave him a good time when he got dropped off by the CG back at the beach?

FWIW, I'd urge everyone to read the thread on iWindsurf as they raise some valid points, but even more so it speaks of the perception many of them have toward kiters. It seems some of them feel that many kiters are careless toward the general public, not accountable and irresponsible. Perhaps some are, but regardless the sentiment is not good.